As vehicles typically require servicing over their lifetime, vehicle-scan tools may receive vehicle-diagnostic data relating to a given vehicle. The vehicle-diagnostic data may be used to diagnosis problems relating to the vehicle.
Typically, a vehicle-scan tool receives vehicle-diagnostic data in a manufacturer-specified format, and converts the vehicle-diagnostic data from the manufacturer-specified format into vehicle-diagnostic data that is stored in a closed format. A technician may use the vehicle-scan tool to display the vehicle-diagnostic data stored in the closed format, and use the displayed vehicle-diagnostic data to diagnose a fault experienced by the vehicle.
The vehicle-diagnostic data in the closed format may typically be viewed by an application on the vehicle-scan tool itself and by like tools that include similar applications created (perhaps created by the manufacturer) specifically to view the vehicle-diagnostic data in the closed format.
Manufacturers of vehicle-scan tools may have an incentive to keep the vehicle-diagnostic data produced by the vehicle-scan tool in a closed format. For instance, if the vehicle-diagnostic data on the vehicle-scan tool is kept in a closed format, the only way for a technician to further view or analyze the vehicle-diagnostic data would be to perhaps purchase additional applications provided by the same manufacturer. Hence, using the vehicle-scan tool to view closed formatted files may also require use of additional products and services provided by the manufacturer. Hence, the use of vehicle-diagnostic data in a closed format may help increase manufacturer sales.